Unexpected Blogcation and Teeth

I really did not intend to allow my blog to languish so long without checking in!! I am trying some new workout things which have resulted in my being EXHAUSTED and an inability lift my computer without pain...so, there you have my excuse, but no doctor's note, I guess...

Yesterday I had a migraine anticipating today. For good reason.

Elise went to the dentist this morning at 7:30 AM. Ack. Pain. Suffering. We had to get up at 5 and leave at 6:15 to get there rushed and slightly late...I hate Atlanta traffic.

But as usual, I digress. Elise asked if she was going to school last night and I told her no, she had to go to the doctor. She wanted to know which doctor. I told her the teeth doctor. Aaaand the flipping out commenced. She HATES the dentist. Despises the dentist. Always has. She has never been hurt in the dental office, I think she shares my abhorrence of the sensory overload that metal instruments cause while scraping your teeth. It just about makes me come unglued.

I have tried telling her what to expect. We've checked out books about dentists and teeth. I have told her what a wonderful girl she is being while getting her teeth cleaned, despite the evidence to the contrary. I have held her so there are no strangers holding her. I talk reassuringly to her the entire time each and every time she has ever gone. And we have yet to get out of there without her attempting to bite someone. Anyone. It's usually me. I have gotten my hands, arms, leg (yes, LEG!) bitten. She got my jaw 2 times ago. She broke the skin, leaving a nice crescent moon of teeth marks...a la Twilight...

Oh. And there is screaming. And growling. We often get our own room. Screaming and growling such that she ALWAYS gives herself petechiae, tiny freckle-like bruises from the force of screaming...

Today, I am pleased to say that not only has she grown up enough to ask what we are doing the next day, but she comprehends it. This time, she spent the entire time, from the moment our truck pulled up to the parking garage until she was released from the chair, trying to negotiate a different doctor. "No teef doctor, no teef. Beep, Beep, Beep doctor? Poke doctor? Heart doctor? Ears? No teef, NO TEEF!!!" This is Elise-ese for every specialist she could think of...including Oncology. She despises getting 3-5 vials of blood taken (wouldn't we all?) for cancer follow-ups and endocrinology to monitor her Thyroid...but she was willing to take Even Them over getting her teeth cleaned.

As soon as they were done, she popped out of the chair like she was spring-loaded thanking them all for cleaning her teeth. She has shown her teeth to every single person we have seen all day. So they can admire her lovely shiny teeth. It's bizarre!

So, she spent her time in the dental chair negotiating (well, she didn't give up the screaming, can't stop everything cold turkey, right?), with only a few warning nips. Nobody got bitten. This is a day that will go down in the history books. Well...it should...but I am so incredibly proud of her and what today really indicates. She hates the dentist, that certainly hasn't changed. But she chose to use words instead of aggressive behavior to try and cut it short. That is, simply put, our ordinary miracle today.